


Yule Balls and Terrible Times

by PalauMaggot



Series: Shake Liberally [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, merfolk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 14:52:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14813504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalauMaggot/pseuds/PalauMaggot
Summary: Tony still can't catch a break from some people.But his friends and a few nice Merfolk have his back. Even if some of said friends forget about certain aspects of his life.





	Yule Balls and Terrible Times

**Author's Note:**

> so with ASL the way you actually sign is SVO (subject, verb, object) order and most of the time there are no 'little' words
> 
> for example "Where is Natasha" = "Natasha where?"
> 
> and i debated writing it out like that but i figured its easier for people who don't understand ASL structure and for the continued flow of the story to just write out the spoken english sentences.

Tony sighed through his nose and rolled his eyes at the many different decorations covering the campus, “I just don’t see a need for this stupid dance Bruce. Is it really that big of a deal?”

Bruce shrugged and turned another page from the book he was reading. He had learned within a couple years that when Tony got onto a tangent, it was best to let him vent. If Bruce tried to have a legitimate conversation about it, Tony would try even harder to get Bruce to see the other side. Sometimes it really wasn’t worth his time so he just hummed and continued to read.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, normal schools have a thing like this called ‘prom’ and it’s some big rite of passage but at the same time, is that a necessary thing?”

Bruce sighed and saved his spot in the book, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get much reading done, “According to most of the school, yes.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Then most of the school is dumb.” He crossed his arms and watched as everyone was excitedly giggling with each other and glancing at whomever they were thinking of asking to the ball.

Bruce’s expression was a bit more serene, “Why begrudge anyone for feeling happy about it?”

Tony looked at his friend and then away. He continued to grumble to himself about how it was still stupid.

Bruce bit his lip against the smile that was slowly appearing. Tony would probably point it out as making fun of him, “Maybe we can go see if any of our group are going to go?”

Tony scoffed, “Of course they’re going to go.”

Bruce did chuckle at that.

Tony tried not to smile at his friend but he couldn’t help it, “Maybe Clint and Natasha’s friendship will finally hit it’s breaking point.”

Bruce shrugged, “I don’t think so, they’re more like siblings.”

Tony stared at the Ravenclaw, “Serious? You believe that? They’re all over each other and always glued to each other’s sides!”

Bruce nodded, “People can be close without romantic attachment.” He didn’t want to put too much defensiveness into his words but he also knew Tony would catch on to his uneasiness.

Tony paused and stared for a moment, “Do you like one of them?”

Bruce sighed, “No, Tony.”

The Slytherin blinked and dropped it. The slight annoyance was enough for him to stop needling the subject. If Bruce did like Clint or Natasha, he probably wouldn’t have wanted Tony to keep discussing their inevitable dating.

There was an uneasy for a couple of seconds before Bruce stopped walking.

Tony stopped and watched his friend worriedly.

Bruce wanted to talk about how he was tired of people diminishing friendships between people because of ‘obvious tension’ but he wasn’t sure how to voice it. So he just sighed and continued to walk. Tony probably wouldn’t understand anyways.

Tony watched Bruce go and furrowed his eyebrows. What was wrong with his friend?

 

* * *

 

Bruce’s mood didn’t really change from the closed-off aura and Tony wasn’t sure how to fix it.

He was in the Slytherin common room waiting for Natasha when he figured he could probably have help. Natasha was great at reading people! He spotted her walking down the staircase and quickly made his way over, “Hey, do you know what’s been eating Bruce lately?”

Natasha glanced at him before leading them out of the common room. They were supposed to meet up for free period anyways, “I noticed he was withdrawn earlier. But I don’t know why.”

Tony nodded, He debated telling her about their conversation earlier but decided against it. As long as she kept an eye on Bruce for now was fine. Tony didn’t want to betray any trust he was given.

Natasha ended up pulling Tony away from his worry with a lighthearted question, “So are you going to ask Steve to the ball?”

Tony immediately sputtered, “What?!” He whisper-yelled. Tony looked around and glared at her, “I was on medication when I said those things. It’s not true.”

Natasha laughed quietly and shook her head, “It just means you were being truthful. You’re lucky he was in class at that time.”

Tony felt his cheeks start to heat up and glared out at the field, “No. I’m not going to ask him. This ball is a stupid tradition anyways.”

The red head raised an eyebrow and realized something, Her eyes softened, “We can all go as a group if you want.” She saw Tony’s shoulders relax.

“I guess it would be more bearable if the whole team went.” Tony said grudgingly.

Natasha looked at Tony for a few seconds more before turning her attention to the table half of their team was at. Of course Tony wouldn’t feel comfortable going to this dance. There’s the issue with his father. If Tony did go alone, he would be targeted, and if he wanted to ask anyone out that wasn’t in their team, they most likely would scoff and throw barbs at him. Tony was scared. Natasha made a mental note to talk to the group with out the other Slytherin present so they would be on the same page.

For now, they would hang out and discuss some strategy for their next team test.

At the end of the meeting Natasha opened her mouth for Tony to go ahead to their next class but she stopped when she saw he took a small breath to speak.

“So how does everyone feel about going as a group to the Yule Ball?” He made to look like he didn’t care about everyone’s answers by looking at his hand and picking an imaginary piece of dirt out from under his fingernail.

Natasha glanced at the group and tried to convey to say ‘yes’ with her eyes. Clint caught on, because of course her best friend would. Bruce and Thor did as well. But before they could say anything Steve spoke up

“Is that allowed?”

Tony glanced up and no one aside from Natasha and Bruce noticed the slight stiffening of his shoulders, “What do you mean?”

Steve placed the side of his face in his hand, “I mean, isn’t it custom that we’re supposed to go in pairs?”

Tony laughed, “Who cares about custom?”

Steve shot a small glare at Tony, “A lot of people do, maybe some of the team wants to go as pairs?”

Tony crossed his arms and started to absentmindedly rub his thumb on his arm, “Then they can go as pairs, it’s not like I’d be forcing them to go as a group and we’re all probably going to hang out together during it anyways.”

Natasha and Bruce glanced at each other and then back to their respective best friends. This wasn't good at all.

Steve sighed and rolled his eyes, “I think we should leave it as is, and if we all meet up during then it happens. But we should stick to tradition and go in pairs anyways.”

Tony stood up and started packing his things, “Fine. Just forget everything I said.” He turned and left for his and Natasha’s class.

Natasha sighed and punched Steve’s shoulder.

The blond winced and rubbed it, “What was that for?”

Natasha watched as Bruce stood up and followed after his friend, “Tony can’t just ask anyone to this ball, Steve.” She placed a hand over his mouth when he made to disagree, “Did you forget who his father is? Did you forget how everyone at this school feels about him? If he goes alone he’s screwed. If he asks anyone outside of this group, He. Is. Screwed.” Natasha stood up and nodded to Clint.

The Hufflepuff nodded back and relaxed against his chair. He and Steve had a second free period together so they would typically hang out for a bit and talk. He watched Natasha leave and then turned to look at Steve who just had his eyebrows furrowed, “It’s alright man, people tend to forget what others go through.”

Steve shook his head and sighed, “I just didn’t want everyone to feel obligated to go as a group if they didn’t want to.”

Clint just laughed, “We’ve known each other for years now, did you really think we wouldn’t speak up if we didn’t want to do something?”

Steve sighed again and nodded.

“What was that really about?”

The Gryffindor hesitated and avoided eye contact with his teammate.

Clint just raised an eyebrow and waited.

Steve chewed on his lip before mumbling something intelligibly.

“What?”

“I said, I wanted to ask Tony to it. That’s why.”

Clint blinked and slowly he smiled, “Then why didn’t you just ask him?!”

Steve shushed Clint and shook his head, “Because I didn’t want to pressure him into anything in front of everyone!” He deflated and laid his head on the table, “But it doesn’t matter anymore because he’s mad at me now. He won't say yes.”

Clint started poking Steve’s head, “You never know unless you try.”

 

* * *

 

Tony sighed into his pillow. He typically always brought his pillow and blanket to the common area because he didn’t want to be in the boys room alone. At least in the common room, Natasha would be able to hang out or the merfolk could scare off anybody who decided to try to bully him. The couch had become his unofficial bed in the time he’s spent at Hogwarts.

He hid when people were getting ready for the ball. Tony didn’t want his other house mates to tease him about not having a date and not going. The teachers claimed it was mandatory but Tony talked to Coulson about it and the DADA professor excused him from going. By now most of the professors were okay with Tony and knew him more as an individual rather than ‘Howard Stark’s Son’.

Tony looked up when he heard a tap on the glass. He sat up and gave the few merfolk a smile.

‘ _What is wrong?_ ’

Tony signed back ‘ _Nothing_.’ He didn’t want to bore them with his surface problems.

‘ _Where is Natasha_?’

Tony bit his lip before signing back at them, ‘ _At a party.’_

The merfolk tilted their heads, ‘ _Why aren’t you there?_ ’

Tony debated for a few moments before settling on, ‘ _I wasn’t invited. No big deal._ ’ He noticed two of them get angry and cross their arms before shaking their heads and had to chuckle. Who knew merfolk would take a liking to him?

The last one signed, still confused, ‘ _Why were you not invited?_ ’

Tony debated telling them a lie, but then who would they tell? Natasha? It’s not like she didn’t know, ‘ _They think I’m like my father. So they don’t like me._ ’

The two got more angry, while the other one, who must have been the younger, was still confused, ‘ _But you are not your father.’_

Tony nodded, ‘ _I know that, but…_ ’ He paused and swallowed against the tears that he felt start to well up, ‘ _-they don’t._ ’

Another merfolk signed angrily, ‘ _Natasha should not have gone_.’

Tony shook his head, ‘ _It’s a party for the whole class. I wouldn’t want her to miss it if she wanted to go._ ’

_‘If it is for the whole class, you should go.’_

_‘Yeah! Who cares if people do not like you! Show them you do not care what they think!’_

_‘Show them they are wrong!’_

Tony laughed a little and wiped at his eyes. Pep talks from merfolk actually work, ‘ _Okay, I have to change but I’ll be back in a second._ ’ He watched them all nod and then high five and fist bump. Tony was so happy when he taught them what that was about in his second year.

 

* * *

  
Natasha sat at the table with her arms crossed. She couldn’t find Tony that entire day so she couldn’t tell him they were going as a group. After Clint told her what Steve said she had to roll her eyes and talk to the stupid blond.

_“Of course he’s going to say yes you idiot!”_

_“You don’t know that!”_

Bruce was fiddling with his cuff and he kept glancing at the entrance. Similar to what Natasha was doing, only more obvious, “Is there anyone you would trust to go and find him in the boy’s common room?”

Natasha shook her head, “Most everyone is indifferent these days, but I still wouldn’t risk it.” She had overheard someone laughing at the fact that Tony wasn’t going earlier in the week so she knew the bias was still there.

Steve sadly sipped at his punch, staying quiet.

Clint had his chair on the back two legs and was looking from teammate to teammate before looking back to where Jane and Thor were dancing together. At least some of them were happy tonight. His eyes strayed to the steps again and he blinked, “Huh. He’s here.”

All three turned towards the entrance and saw the uneasy brunet peaking out from the side wall.

Natasha clenched one of her fists when she saw Justin notice as well. She immediately stood up and started to walk to her teammate. Clint was on her heels just in case she was going to do something to land her in detention.

Justin smirked at the dateless Tony, “Look who decided to show up alone!” A few of the students around Justin looked at the entrance and snickered.

Tony had his mask on firmly by then and breezed past the group. Well, he tried to breeze past. A sudden grip on his arm pulled him backwards.

“No one wants you here Stark. Go cry in your bed about how lonely you are.”

Tony’s eye twitched as he tried to yank his arm out of Justin’s grip, “Let me go, Justin.”

The blond just laughed, “Or what?”

Natasha’s voice carried from right behind the shorter of the two, “Or else I’ll rip it from it’s socket.”

The crowed went quiet and immediately scurried away from the red head. Justin immediately release Tony’s arm and tried to seem like Natasha didn’t intimidate him. He opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut when she outright glared at him. He scurried off towards the crowd of people dancing.

Tony took a small breath and straightened out the arm of his dress robe and smiled at his teammates, “Thanks.”

Natasha returned the smile and slipped her arm through Tony’s to lead them to the group table.

Tony blinked when Clint took up his other side and grinned at the Hufflepuff, “You two are a couple of-”

“Awesome friends? Classy amigos?”

Tony shook his head at the blond with a laugh, “Not quite what I was going to say but sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” They made it to the table and he exchanged a few words with Bruce who seemed more like himself now and then glanced to Steve. The Gryffindor was smiling at him uneasily.

“I’m glad you made it.”

Tony nodded and sat down but turned his attention away from the blond. He wasn’t sure what Steve was thinking but his expression was making Tony feel a bit uncomfortable. He missed Steve’s face fall and helpless look towards Clint.

Clint shrugged back and gestured to Tony.

Steve swallowed and stood up, he walked around and stood next to Tony.

Tony blinked and looked up at the blond in surprise.

“Do you want to dance? With me?”

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed and he glanced to Bruce again before looking back at Steve, “Umm, why?”

Steve expected a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ so he was caught off guard by Tony’s reply, “Because… It might be something you’d want to do?”

Tony blinked again and looked at the crowd. He shrugged and addressed the table, “Does anyone else want to dance?”

Steve face-palmed while Tony was turned away. He could feel his face turning red and remembered that while Tony was one of the smartest people he knew, the Slytherin was super dense about certain things.

Clint hid his smile into his drink as he took a sip and Bruce and Natasha didn’t bother hiding theirs.

Tony glanced back at Steve and jumped when he knelt down next to his chair, “Uhh-”

Steve glared into the brown eyes and said very clearly, “Tony. I am asking you to dance as a date.”

Tony blinked a couple more times before letting out a soft, “Oh.” of realization. He noticed Steve’s hand on his own and swallowed, “Uh, okay.”

Steve let out a breath and smiled again, “Thank you.” He gently pulled Tony up by his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

Tony still didn’t really understand what was happening and it wasn’t until they walked back to the Slytherin common room entrance together when Steve asked if he could kiss Tony that he realized. Tony bit his lip as he shook his head, “Not yet…. but I would like it if we tried this more.” He said looking at their joined hands.

Steve’s face fell the slightest amount before he smiled at the rest of the sentence, “Of course. I’d like that too.” Steve gently squeezed Tony’s hand before he let it go, “Goodnight, Tony.”

Tony smiled, “Goodnight, Steve.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> hi, im still alive <3
> 
> this came out while i was trying to write a different story so hey at least i got something back for this series! 
> 
> and i also have a little segue into another one for bruce dont i? :D let me know what you think!


End file.
